The Cornplanter Medal was named for the Iroquois chief

Cornplanter John Abeel III (born between 1732 and 1746–February 18, 1836), known as Gaiänt'wakê (''Gyantwachia'' – "the planter") or Kaiiontwa'kon (''Kaintwakon'' – "By What One Plants") in the Seneca language and thus generally known as Cornplant ...

and is an award for scholastic and other contributions to the betterment of knowledge of the

Iroquois people The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years t ...

. It was initiated by

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

anthropologist

Frederick Starr Frederick Starr (September 2, 1858 – August 14, 1933) was an American academic, anthropologist, and "populist educator"Parezo, Nancy J. and Don D. Fowler. (2007) "Taking Ethnological Training Outside the Classroom: the 1904 Louisiana Exposi ...

with seed money from nine associates in order to engrave and print sketches of Iroquois games and dances. Starr had two main goals while he planned the medal: One, he wanted to recognize and award the people who were contributing to research and knowledge of the Iroquois. Two, he intended to prove that the tribe, contrary to some academic opinion, had artisans that showed abilities of a "true artist", by presenting and preserving the art of the Iroquois youth

Jesse Cornplanter Jesse J. Cornplanter (September 16, 1889 – March 18, 1957) was an actor, artist, author, craftsman, Seneca Faithkeeper and World War I decorated veteran. The last male descendant of Cornplanter, an important 18th-century Haudenosaunee lea ...

. The medal was endowed through sales of the publication of the sketches in the booklet ''Iroquois Indian Games and Dances'' (c. 1903). The young artist of the sketches was credited as "Jesse Cornplanter, Seneca Indian Boy". First presented in 1904 by the

Cayuga County Cayuga County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 76,248. Its county seat and largest city is Auburn. The county was named for the Cayuga people, one of the Indian tribes in the Iroquois Confed ...

Historical Society in Auburn NY, it was awarded every two years to people who fall into one or more of the following classes: * Ethnologists, making worthy field-studies or other investigations among the Iroquois. * Historians, making actual contributions to our knowledge of the Iroquois. * Artists, worthily representing Iroquois life or types by brush or chisel. * Philanthropists, whose efforts are based upon adequate scientific study and appreciation of Iroquois conditions and needs.

List of medal recipients

* 1904 General John S. Clark, historian and archaeologist * 1906 Rev. William Martin Beauchamp, archaeologist and ethnologist * 1908 Dr. David Boyle, archaeologist and ethnologist * 1910 William P. Letchworth, philanthropist * 1912

Reuben Gold Thwaites Reuben Gold Thwaites ( May 15, 1853 – October 22, 1913) was an American librarian and historical writer. Biography Thwaites was born in 1853 in Dorchester, Massachusetts. His parents were William George and Sarah Bibbs Thwaites, who had mo ...

, historian * 1914 J.N.B. Hewitt, ethnologist * 1916 Arthur C. Parker, archaeologist and ethnologist * 1919 Alvin H. Dewey, philanthropist * 1920 Mary Clark Thompson, philanthropist * 1923 Professor Frederick Houghton, archaeologist * 1926 Edwin H. Gohl, archaeologist and artist * 1965 William N. Fenton, ethnologist and historian * 1966 William A. Ritchie, archaeologist * 1967 Merle H. Deardorff, ethnologist and historian * 1968 Aldelphena Logan, artist * 1969 Kenneth E. Kidd, historian and archaeologist * 1970

Anthony F. C. Wallace Anthony Francis Clarke Wallace (April 15, 1923 – October 5, 2015) was a Canadian-American anthropologist who specialized in Native American cultures, especially the Iroquois. His research expressed an interest in the intersection of cultural a ...

, ethnologist and historian * 1971 Floyd G. Lounsbury, linguist and ethnologist * 1975 Marian E. White, archaeologist and historian; and Walter K. Long, artist * 1977 Richard S. MacNeish, archaeologist * 1979

Bruce G. Trigger Bruce Graham Trigger (June 18, 1937 – December 1, 2006) was a Canadian archaeologist, anthropologist, and ethnohistorian. He was appointed the James McGill Professor at McGill University in 2001. Life Born in Preston, Ontario (now part of ...

, historian and archaeologist

References

;Attributions * * * {{cite journal , last=Starr , first=Frederick , author-link=Frederick Starr , date=December 1929 , title=The Later Awards of the Cornplanter Medal , url=https://archive.org/details/opencourt_dec1929caru , journal=The Open Court , publisher=Open Court Publishing Company , volume=43 , issue=883 , pages=749–755 , access-date=January 9, 2016

External links

''Iroquois Indian games and dances''
drawn by Jesse Cornplanter, Seneca Indian boy: Amherst College Archives & Special Collections Academic awards Archaeology awards Awards established in 1914 1914 establishments in New York (state) Iroquois Cayuga County, New York

List of medal recipients

See also

References

External links